London close: Footsie rallies amid US optimism

Footsie gave up its poor start to close in the red after positive economic figures from the US.

The latest survey on US consumer confidence came in ahead of expectations, easing fears over the state of the world's biggest economy. The reading on consumer confidence for August was 53.5, ahead of expectations of 51.0.

Here, GfK NOP's consumer confidence index came in at -18 in August, better than the previous month but still at a similar level to May 2009, when the UK was still in recession.

In company news, among the risers wasBunzl after half-year results bang in line with expectations. A recovery in North American revenues offset ongoing weakness at the distribution and outsourcing group's business in the UK & Ireland. Profit before tax, intangible amortisation and acquisition related costs increased 8% to £125.1m.

Shares in chip designer ARM, whose technology is used in glitzy gadgets such as smartphones, rose after it emerged that US processor giant Intel is buying Infineon Technologies' wireless division.

Serco which runs public sector outsources services such as London's Docklands Light Railway, fell back after BoA Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy' ahead of October's Comprehensive Spending Review.

AstraZeneca is mulling its options over fledgling respiratory treatment motavizumab after US regulators asked for more data on its efficacy. Better news for Reckitt Benckiser after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the manufacture and market Suboxone sub-lingual film in the US.

Encore Oil has described as "superb" the latest drilling results from it Cladhan appraisal well located in UK Northern North Sea block 210/29a. "This is a superb result from Cladhan and is at the upper end of our expectations regarding the quality and quantity of reservoir sands," chief executive Alan Booth said.

BTG, the specialty pharmaceuticals outfit, expects product revenue to be higher than expected this year after doing a deal to become the sole supplier of a pair of life-saving drugs from 1 October. Nycomed US Inc's contract as the exclusive distributor of CroFab and DigiFab in the US expires on 30 September, but it's allowed to keep selling whatever supplies it has left for another six months.

Higher prices outweighed lower production in the first half for Africa-focused oil group Afren as it moved strongly into profit. The group posted net income of $50.7m compared with a loss of $38.5m as revenues rose to $215m from $155m.

Online gaming giant 888 Holdings' trading in August has been significantly stronger than in July but it was not all good news for shareholders, as the company cancelled its interim dividend. Total operating income in the first half of 2010 rose to $130.2m from $117.9m the year before. Underlying earnings tumbled to $12.6m from $20.6m.

FTSE 100 - Risers
ARM Holdings (ARM) 366.80p +8.58%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,090.00p +3.22%
Randgold Resources (RRS) 6,080.00p +2.62%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 44.58p +2.48%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,300.00p +2.37%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 156.75p +2.05%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,251.00p +1.98%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,340.00p +1.94%
Amec (AMEC) 917.00p +1.89%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,831.50p +1.86%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 982.00p -2.96%
Serco Group (SRP) 582.00p -2.51%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,665.00p -2.00%
BG Group (BG.) 1,049.50p -1.59%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,800.00p -1.59%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,419.00p -1.25%
Centrica (CNA) 325.30p -1.21%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 667.50p -1.18%
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 846.50p -1.17%
G4S (GFS) 252.40p -1.10%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Connaught (CNT) 16.60p +20.29%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 396.40p +6.76%
Hansen Transmissions International (HSN) 58.20p +5.82%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 175.00p +5.74%
Melrose (MRO) 257.50p +5.71%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 350.40p +5.54%
Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 430.20p +5.39%
Rightmove (RMV) 647.00p +4.52%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,207.00p +4.14%
SDL International (SDL) 567.50p +4.13%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 25.75p -2.83%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 486.00p -2.74%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 76.95p -2.59%
Renishaw (RSW) 851.00p -2.58%
SVG Capital (SVI) 152.00p -2.50%
Carillion (CLLN) 304.10p -2.41%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 240.00p -2.40%
BTG (BGC) 200.70p -2.38%
Yell Group (YELL) 14.46p -2.30%
Premier Foods (PFD) 16.00p -2.08%